The Affective Side of Mathematics Education: Adapting a Mathematics Attitude Measure to the Context of Ethiopia
Keywords:
Mathematics Education, Mathematics Attitude, Construct Validation, University, Ethiopia
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to determine the factorial validity of an adapted “Attitudes towards Mathematics Inventory (ATMI)” measure. The ATMI was originally developed by Tapia and Marsh (2004) in the western culture to measure attitudes towards Mathematics. This paper reports the psychometric prosperities of the adapted Amharic version of the ATMI based on a sample of 385 Ethiopian university students enrolled for Mathematics classes. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) procedure is employed to test the factorial validity of the ATMI-Amharic. The results reveal that the original four-factor model (Self-confidence, Enjoyment, Motivation, and Value) is retained for the adapted ATMI-Amharic since no statistically significant difference (χ2= 1.827, p = 0.401; RMSEA < 0.0001) was found between the base and the observed models. Further, a test of factorial invariance across gender groups and year-levels also yielded that the model has measurement invariance revealing the ATMI-Amharic is independent of gender and number of years in college. Besides, the coefficient alphas for the four subscales (α = 0.78-0.89) and for the overall measure (α = 0.94) are found to be high. The implications of the findings in relation to the psychometric properties of the ATMI-Amharic and its use in Ethiopian context are discussed.
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References
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Seleshi Zeleke, (1995). Gender differences in mathematics attitude as a function of attitudes in grades eight through eleven in North Shoa. Unpublished Masters‟ Thesis, Addis Ababa University. Seleshi Zeleke. (2001). Gender Differences in Mathematics Performance in the Elementary Grades: Implications for Women's Participation in Scientific and Technical Occupations. Eastern African Social Science Research Review, 27 (2), 109-127. Seleshi Zeleke. (2005). Gender Differences in Mathematics Performance among Fifth and Sixth Grade Children in Addis Ababa. Ethiopian Journal of Education, 25 (1), 1-22. Sells, L. (1973). High School Mathematics as a Critical Filter in the Job Market. University of California, Berkeley, CA. Sells, L. M. (1980). The Mathematical Filter and the Education of Women and Minorities. In. L.H. Fox, L. Brody, & D. Tobin (Eds.). Women and Mathematical Mystique. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Suinn, R. M., & Edwards, R. (1982). The measurement of Mathematics anxiety: The Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale for Adolescents-MARS-A. Journals of Clinical Psychology, 38(3), 576-580. Tapia, M., & Marsh, G. E., II (2004). An instrument to measure Mathematics attitudes. Academic Exchange Quarterly, 8(2), 16-21. Tapia, M., & Marsh, G. E., II (2005). Attitudes towards Mathematics inventory redux. Academic Exchange Quarterly, Retrieved on May 1 2007 from http://www.freelibrary.com.
Tesfaye, Semela. (2010). Who is joining physics and why? Factors influencing the choice of physics among Ethiopian university students. International Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 5(3), 319-340. Tilaye Kassahun. (2004). Girls Achievement in Mathematics in Upper Primary Schools in Addis Ababa. Ethiopian Journal of Education, 24 (2), 67-100. Waits, B. K., & Demana, F. (1988). Relationship between Mathematics skills of entering students and their success in college. School Counselor, 35, 307-310. Willoughby, Stephen S. (1990). Mathematics education for a changing world. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Yee, L.S. (2010). Mathematics Attitudes and Achievement of Junior College Students in Singapore. In L. Sparrow, B. Kissane, & C. Hurst (Eds.), Shaping the future of Mathematics Education: Proceedings of the 33rd annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia. Fremantle: MERGA.
Bassette, L. P. (2004). An assessment of the attitudes and outcomes of students enrolled in developmental basic Mathematics classes at Prince George’s Community College. Retrieved on 2/8/ 2007 from http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-01072005-164605/unrestricted/FrontMatter.pdf. Cortina, J.M. (1993). What is coefficient α? An examination of theory and applications. Journal of Applied Psychology, (78): 98 – 104.
Dutton, W. H. & Blum, M. P. (1968). The measurement of attitudes toward arithmetic with a Likert-type test. Elementary School Journal, 68, 259-264. Dutton, W. H. (1954). Measuring attitudes toward arithmetic. Elementary School Journal, 54, 24-31. Eccels, J. (1982). Sex Difference in Achievement Patterns. American Psychological Association. Educational Research Association. Chattanooga, TN. Fennema, E., & Sherman, J. (1975). Fennema-Sherman Mathematics attitudes scales- instruments. Journal of Research in Mathematics Teaching, 9(3), 16 -22. Fennema, E., & Sherman, J. A. (1976). Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitudes Scales: JSAS. Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 6(1), 3b. Field, A. (2005). Discovering Statistics Using SPSS (2nd ed.). London: Sage Publications Inc. Gladstone, R., Deal, R., & Drevdahl, J. E (1960). Attitudes toward mathematics. In M. E. Shaw & J. M. Wright (1967). Scales for the measurement of attitudes. NY: McGraw Hill. 237-242. Haladyna, T., Shaughnessy, J., & Shaughnessy, M. J. (1983). A Causal Analysis of Attitude toward Mathematics. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 14 (1), 19-29.
Hart, L. (1989). Describing the Affective Domain: Saying What We Mean. In Mc Leod & Adams (Eds.) Affect and Mathematical Problem Solving (pp.37-45). New York: Springer Verlag.
He, H. (2007). Adolescents’ perception of parental and peer mathematics anxiety and attitude toward mathematics: comparative study of European – American and Mainland-Chinese Students. A PhD dissertation, Washington State University, USA. Hu, L., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling 6(1), 1-5. Kline, Rex B. (1998). Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling. NY: Guilford Press. Koch, L. (1992). Revisiting Mathematics. Journal of Developmental Education, 16 (1), 12-18. Liau, A.K., Kassim, M., & Loke, M. L. (2007). Reliability and Validity of a Malay Translation of the Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitudes Scales. The Mathematics Educator, 10 (2), 71-84. Ma, X., & Kishor, N. (1997). Assessing the relationship between attitude toward Mathematics and achievement in Mathematics: A meta-analysis. The Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 28, 26-47. Marsh, H.W. (1989). Sex differences in the development of verbal and Mathematics constructs: The High School and Beyond Study. American Educational Research Journal, 26 (2): 191-225. Melancon, J. G., Thompson, B., & Becnel, S. (1994). Measurement integrity of scores from the Fenemma-Shennan Mathematics Attitudes Scales: The attitudes of public school teachers. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 54(1), 187-192.
Michaels, L. A & Forsyth, R. A. (1977). Construction and validation of an instrument measuring certain attitudes toward Mathematics. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 37(4), 1043-1049. Ministry of Education (MoE) (2008). Annual intake and enrolment growth and professional program mix of Ethiopian public higher education: Strategy and conversion plan, 2001-2005 E.C, Ministry of Education, Addis Ababa. Mulhern, F., & Rae, G. (1998). Development of a shortened form of the Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitudes Scales. Educational and Psychological Measurement 58(2), 295-306. Mulu Nega. (2009). Quality of pre-university preparation, English language proficiency and university entrance examinations. In Quality of Higher Education in Ethiopian Public Institutions, pp. 1-26, Forum for Social Studies, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Neale, D. C. (1969). The role of attitude in learning Mathematics. Arithmetic Teacher, 16, 631-640. O'Neal, M. R., Ernest, P. S., McLean, J. E, & Templeton, S. M. (1988, November). Factorial validity of the Fennema-Sherman Attitude Scales. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Mid-South Educational Research Association, Louisville, KY. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service ED 303493. Sandman, R. S. (1980). The Mathematics attitude inventory: Instrument and user’s manual. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 11(2), 148-149. Schumacker, R. E. & Lomax, R. G. (1996). A beginner's guide to structural equation modeling. Mahwah, N J: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Seleshi Zeleke, (1995). Gender differences in mathematics attitude as a function of attitudes in grades eight through eleven in North Shoa. Unpublished Masters‟ Thesis, Addis Ababa University. Seleshi Zeleke. (2001). Gender Differences in Mathematics Performance in the Elementary Grades: Implications for Women's Participation in Scientific and Technical Occupations. Eastern African Social Science Research Review, 27 (2), 109-127. Seleshi Zeleke. (2005). Gender Differences in Mathematics Performance among Fifth and Sixth Grade Children in Addis Ababa. Ethiopian Journal of Education, 25 (1), 1-22. Sells, L. (1973). High School Mathematics as a Critical Filter in the Job Market. University of California, Berkeley, CA. Sells, L. M. (1980). The Mathematical Filter and the Education of Women and Minorities. In. L.H. Fox, L. Brody, & D. Tobin (Eds.). Women and Mathematical Mystique. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Suinn, R. M., & Edwards, R. (1982). The measurement of Mathematics anxiety: The Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale for Adolescents-MARS-A. Journals of Clinical Psychology, 38(3), 576-580. Tapia, M., & Marsh, G. E., II (2004). An instrument to measure Mathematics attitudes. Academic Exchange Quarterly, 8(2), 16-21. Tapia, M., & Marsh, G. E., II (2005). Attitudes towards Mathematics inventory redux. Academic Exchange Quarterly, Retrieved on May 1 2007 from http://www.freelibrary.com.
Tesfaye, Semela. (2010). Who is joining physics and why? Factors influencing the choice of physics among Ethiopian university students. International Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 5(3), 319-340. Tilaye Kassahun. (2004). Girls Achievement in Mathematics in Upper Primary Schools in Addis Ababa. Ethiopian Journal of Education, 24 (2), 67-100. Waits, B. K., & Demana, F. (1988). Relationship between Mathematics skills of entering students and their success in college. School Counselor, 35, 307-310. Willoughby, Stephen S. (1990). Mathematics education for a changing world. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Yee, L.S. (2010). Mathematics Attitudes and Achievement of Junior College Students in Singapore. In L. Sparrow, B. Kissane, & C. Hurst (Eds.), Shaping the future of Mathematics Education: Proceedings of the 33rd annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia. Fremantle: MERGA.
Published
2012-06-01
Section
Articles